Monday, February 15, 2010

Recently released is Martin Campbell's reimaging of his own 1985 BAFTA Award-winning BBC series Edge of Darkness. The Hollywood version sees Mel Gibson return to the screen after a long absence in this tale of a father seeking to find the truth behind his daughter's killing.The music is provided by Howard Shore and is his fifth score to be released on the Silva Screen label.Of course David Cronenberg fans may disagree, but Shore is rather like the successful novelist struggling to come up with a second book after the huge success of his Lord of the Rings Trilogy scores. I doubt he will ever match what he did for those movies, though he has come close at times, particularly with his score for the videogame Soul of the Ultimate Nation. In the meantime, he remains a more than capable composer for more grounded fare like this dark thriller, and he hasn't forgotten what he learnt on LOTR, as hints of that style pervade most things he has done since.The album commences with Shore's "Main Titles" music which, after a low-key opening, suddenly erupts in violence. "Mourning" follows on in bittersweet reflection, with harp arpeggios leading the way. "Beach" continues to pour on the emotion, before turning dark and ominous at its conclusion. "Knife" opens powerfully, before continuing disturbingly toward a savage ending.Plenty of dark and mysterious rumblings follow, always tinged with sadness as Gibson struggles to get to the heart of the conspiracy, but tracks like "Pursuit" and "Killing," find release in some savage, dissonant and at times exciting action scoring, the brassy opening of the latter being particularly affecting.Little relief can be found from the darkness, but "Hit & Run" offers a brief poignant piano solo, before more savagery erupts; and the piano returns for the opening of "Emma," for "Reunited," and leading us into the concluding "You're My Girl," where strings eventually join to take us to a redemptive close.Edge of Darkness can be obtained both on CD and as a digital download from www.silvascreenmusic.com.